[The following views do not necessarily reflect those of my colleagues at Late Night Theology.]

By way of introduction, I would just like to state that this is not a point by point refutation of everything in the video, it is simply a response. While there are some points that I do refute, my main objective is point out the absurdity of someone who is Reformed accusing another Christian group of believing that “no one should interpret Scripture apart from Church tradition.”

We view Scripture through a lens, it’s inevitable. When we were introduced to the Bible we were given glasses to read with. The “prescription” for those glasses might change with our continued study of Scripture and Church tradition, but we never lose glasses because if we lose our glasses we lose our ability to understand Scripture.

In Acts 8, Philip asked the eunuch, “Sir, do you understand what you’re reading?” And the eunuch gives a profound answer – “How can I unless someone guides me?” We must admit, like the eunuch, that Scripture cannot be understood apart from someone guiding us.

Ugh. These guys are crazy.

“They’re still a Roman Catholic knock off.”

Nope. More like the Roman Catholic Church is a Eastern Orthodox knock off.

“They believe that salvation is process of faith-works and partaking in the sacraments.”

Yeah, well, whatever. Luther still believed in purgatory. Obviously, the Orthodox are wrong when it comes to this issue, but whenever you have verses like John 6:54-56 and 1 Peter 3:21, can you really blame them for not wanting to ignore those texts and just say that they’re metaphorical? Here’s the thing, their tradition and interpretation of Scripture has been consistent over the last 1800 years or so. I would say that you can’t just readily dismiss a tradition that is that close to Jesus in space and time.

“The Orthodox Church believes that the sacraments literally become the flesh and blood of Christ.”

The video compares their position to the Roman Catholic position of Transubstantiation. That’s inaccurate because the Roman Catholic Church teaches that transubstantiation is the method by which the elements are transformed into the actual body and blood of Christ whereas the Orthodox Church believes that the elements become the body and blood of Christ, but they’re not sure how. It is literally a mystery to them, which is something that I can appreciate because we have this tendency to want to KNOW EVERY FREAKING JOT AND TITTLE of Christianity when it is CLEAR from Scripture that some things are just a mystery.

According to Colossians 3, we’ve died and our lives are hidden in Christ. Who we are will be revealed at the day of Christ (Colossians 3:4). Guess what? It’s a mystery.
It seems like we’ve tried to overthink Christianity to death where there’s no mystery involved in it anymore.

As I mentioned earlier, they simply don’t want to dismiss passages like John 6:54-56, and Luke 22:19, where Jesus POSSIBLY implies that the bread is His body and the wine is His blood.

“Though the Orthodox Church believes the Bible is the Word of God, they believe the Church is equal in authority, and that no one should interpret the Bible apart from Church tradition.”

Ummmmm….. Calvinists who are steeped in the Reformed community do the same damn thing with their confessions so they DO NOT have any room whatsoever to talk about this issue. As matter of fact, let me reword their statement and see if it sounds familiar – “Though Reformed Christians believe the Bible is the Word of God, they believe their confessions (1689 LBCF, 1646 WCF, Three Forms of Unity, etc.) are equal in authority, and that no one should interpret the Bible apart from these confessions.” Yep. That sounds more accurate.

“The Orthodox Church prays for the dead and believe that it is possible for salvation to occur after death.”

No. They do, in fact, pray with the dead, not to, and not for the dead. They pray with the saints, and often they ask saints in Heaven to pray for them because, to them, those saints are just as alive as you and I are, they just so happen to be in closer proximity to Jesus than we are. So, asking a saint to pray for them is no different than asking you to pray for me.

Also, they do not believe repentance is possible after death. John Karmiris, a Eastern Orthodox theologian, states, “Death terminates the moral development of man; any further evolution is rendered impossible, and retribution begins.” Clearly, they do not believe repentance and salvation are possible after death.

At the end of the video, the narrator says that it’s possible for someone to come to saving faith in an Eastern Orthodox church, but if they’re going to grow in the grace the knowledge of Christ then they need to leave. I think that’s a load of bullcrap, and at this point in my life, I’d rather send a new convert to a Eastern Orthodox congregation than any congregation that teaches that iconography of Jesus is a violation of the 2nd commandment (assuming I had to pick between the two), and there’s my rant.

“…Christians seem to think saying Sola Scriptura is the ultimate authority somehow means it is my personal “solo” reading of Scripture that is authoritative. They reject the witness of the Church down through the ages in favor of a personal, private understanding of Scripture (which is not at all what the reformers meant by the term “Scripture alone”). Consequently, we see that many Evangelicals deny that the historic Church’s creeds and confessions have any relevance today. In fact, the 2016 report indicates that 23 percent percent of Evangelicals believe “there is little value in studying or reciting historical Christian creeds and confessions,” while a further 9 percent are unsure.

Because they privilege their own personal understanding of Scripture over the historic witness of the Church, it’s not surprising that Evangelicals deny that their congregation should have any meaningful authority over them: For example, 57 percent denied that their local church should have “the authority to withhold the Lord’s Supper from me and exclude me from the fellowship of the church.” In other words, Evangelicals believe the Bible is authoritative; and that authority is mediated by individual believers, rather than the church (even though the Bible explicitly says that authority is to be exercised by the church—e.g., Matthew 18:15-17, 1 Corinthians 5:11-13, Titus 3:10-11, etc.)”

“While presenting labyrinthine theological sermons in monotone from his pulpit, the Puritan preacher witnessed strange manifestations, convulsing bodies, and shouts and yelps among his congregants. But Edwards the Reformed theologian was discerning enough not to write this off, but to say, “There’s something of the Spirit in this.” In Pentecostal spirituality, the Calvinist conviction about the sovereignty of God is extended to worship in a way that makes us open to and even expectant of the sovereign Lord surprising us.”

“The two groups you’d expect were more likely to leave: Trump supporters who felt their clergy didn’t support him (represented by the red line on the left), and those who felt cool toward Trump but thought their clergy strongly supported him (represented by the blue line on the right).

This finding might help explain why evangelical clergy appear to have had little to say about Trump in their churches this fall. It’s very likely that they were concerned about alienating some of their flock.”

“Church of the Resurrection, an Anglican Church in Wheaton, Ill., has created the following graphic to illustrate how the different personalities of patron saints correspond with Myers-Briggs personality types. Are you St. Francis or perhaps St. Joan (of Arc)? Check it out.”

“Join Garth Cross on Steve Brown, Etc. for a discussion of his book, Outside the Camp: A Former Pastor Looks at the Church from a Distance. Hear the laments of sin and shame, broken community, and people in pain. Then listen as God responds with his radical grace.”

“Calvinism doesn’t have a fantastic reputation, at least in some circles. Some people feel like it focuses more on theology than on loving people. Others have had really bad experiences with Calvinists. And some people think it runs counter to the beautiful free offer of grace found in the Bible.

But what if someone who is not a jerk (at least most of the time) could talk about Calvinism in a way that didn’t make you want to smash your computer?”

This is the first episode of Late Night Theology, where I am joined by my good friend, Tom Ellinson to discuss his big yellow bus that he is converting to an RV. We’re also going to talk about Tullian Tchividjian and his return ministry as well as the reasons why pastors turn to liberal ideology.

“But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. …For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure,because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.” – 2 Corinthians 4:7, 17-18, NRSV

“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself,not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17-19, NRSV

Let’s get one thing clear. I suck at being a Christian. I love Jesus with all my heart. He’s my best friend. I call upon Him as Savior everyday and I pray for Him to be my Lord, and I try to submit myself to what He wants for my life, but sometimes I just blow it. If I weren’t a Calvinist, I would say that I’ve lost my salvation two or three times in the last week. The struggle that I have is real and one of the reasons I believe God allows me to have these struggles is so that I can help others who have similar problems.

You see, this whole sanctification thing is from now until we die. We’ll never be perfect until we stand in the full presence of Almighty God in Heaven. Until that moment, God continually draws us to Himself. He beckons us into a beautiful relationship with Him. And this life is full of ups and downs, unexpected turns in the road, and sometimes we lose our way. Sometimes we make bad decisions. The good news though is that Jesus didn’t lay any terms and conditions in a negotiation with the Father before He came. Jesus didn’t look at God and say, “Now Dad, I’m only going to atone for their sins if they never blow it or mess up again from the moment of their conversion.” That conversation never took place. As a matter of fact, I don’t even believe there was any negotiation because Jesus humbly submitted Himself to the Father’s will.

Spurgeon said, “God came here in human form, not bound to be obedient; but “being found in fashion as a man, he became obedient”; obedient to his own law, and fulfilled every jot and tittle of it. He was “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” And his obedience is ours, if we believe.” So you see, Jesus was perfectly obedient because He knew we wouldn’t be. He knew we were sons of wrath and disobedience when He saved us, and then He made children of the light.

Now, I’m a secure child of God, but there are days when it feels like the darkness will not lift and I have gone too far and Jesus, in all of His love and mercy, reminds me of the atonement that He secured for me over 2,000 years ago on an old rugged cross. My sins, my mess ups, my mistakes, my depression, my habits, and hangups were nailed to the cross and Jesus had already declared His victory over them.

So if you’re reading this and you’re having one of those days, remember He’s not done with you yet. He loves you and He still says to us, “Neither do I condemn you, go, and sin no more!.”

I’ve decided that I’m going to do something that I’ve not done in a really long time and that is finish a series. So, if you’ve been following me for a while you’ll notice that I’ve been doing a series called, “It’s All About Jesus”. The title is self-explanatory. The material that we’ve been going over is found in Ephesians 1

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” – [Ephesians 1:3-14 NIV]

According to this passage of Scripture there are nine things God has done for us and they are:

1. He has blessed us (Eph. 1:3)
2. He has chosen us (Eph. 1:4)
3. He has predestined us (Eph. 1:5, 11)
4. He has made us accepted (Eph. 1:6)
5. He has redeemed us (Eph. 1:7)
6. He has poured grace on us (Eph. 1:8)
7. He has made known unto us the mystery of His will (Eph. 1:9)
8. He has given us an inheritance (Eph. 1:11, 14)
9. He has sealed us (Eph. 1:13)

Let’s get started where we left off:

6. He has poured grace on us (Eph. 1:8)

In the ESV, Ephesians 1:7, 8 read like this:

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight – [Ephesians 1:7-8 ESV]

The word ‘lavished’ implies more than enough. It tells me that God didn’t just give me enough grace to get by on but he gave me grace for every day. He gave me more than I needed. He didn’t have to give me more than enough but he did anyway because He really loves me. Just to think that God has shown that kind of love for each and every person is incredible and unfathomable.

7. He has made known unto us the mystery of His will (Eph. 1:9)

When Paul is talking here, he’s telling us about the mystery of the will of God. How can this mystery remain a mystery if it’s made known to us? To be honest, it can’t. Paul couldn’t keep his mouth shut. He just had to talk in Ephesians 3:6:

“And the mystery is this: Because of Christ Jesus, the good news has given the Gentiles a share in the promises that God gave to the Jews. God has also let the Gentiles be part of the same body.” – [Ephesians 3:6 CEV]

We, who were rejected and kicked out in the cold, are now welcomed by God’s wonderful grace to be his elect people.

“Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” – [1 Peter 2:10 ESV]

8. He has given us an inheritance (Eph. 1:11, 14)

This great inheritance that Paul speaks about is our salvation. God gave this to us as a free gift. I’ve heard a lot of Baptists express this as God giving us a box wrapped in paper and all we have to do is accept it but I’m with RC Sproul on this one:

“God just doesn’t throw a life preserver to a drowning person. He goes to the bottom of the sea, and pulls a corpse from the bottom of the sea, takes him up on the bank, breathes into him the breath of life and makes him alive.” – R.C. Sproul

A dead man can’t receive anything. God has to be the one to bring you to life. Jesus says in John 10:

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” – [John 10:10 ESV]

A lot of people use this to preach on living a blessed and abundant life. That’s all well and good but people seldom realize that you must have life before you can have abundant life and that’s what our inheritance is: life.

After reading and studying what a seal was and its purpose, I understood what Paul was communicating. Our salvation is a done deal. God owns me. I’m secure. I’m not going to lose my salvation at the drop of a hat. As a believer, I have the Holy Spirit as a testimony that God will never let me go.

I hope that God absolutely blesses your socks off today. Remember, that you are loved by the Creator of the universe.